Are you struggling to drive change in your team? Despite your best efforts, are some of your team members dragging their feet and resistant to change? Don’t try to bring everybody on the journey! Instead, identify change champions and focus most of your resources on them.
This week, I was in the meeting of an advisory group that provides input to the Western Australian state government for their future plans. The topic of our discussion was the digital divide.
Our world has become more digital, and to successfully navigate and thrive in it, we need to be digitally savvy. But as a result, we now have the digital divide of haves and have-nots – in society, communities, and even in organisations and teams.
Many leaders and organisations are going through the digital transformation process, trying to provide a better customer experience, be more competitive, and increase productivity. Leaders often ask me:
“What can we do to bring everybody along on this journey?”
That’s the wrong question! A better question is:
“How can we empower the people who are already enthusiastic about this journey?”
In other words, instead of struggling to bring everyone on board, focus on your champions of change – those who are already keen and excited about the digital transformation journey. Apply the 80-20 rule: Give them 80% of your resources, and let them lead the way.
When you showcase the work of your change champions, it becomes easier to bring other people on board.
If you are interested in this approach, I’ve got two things for you.
First, I have a program about building a culture of change agents, where I work with your change champions to help them on this journey:
I also have a worksheet here to give you some ideas for empowering change champions.
So, when it comes to creating change, start with your champions of change, and then bring others along on the journey.
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